Artificial nail



Mm M. JAUME ETAL ARTIFICIAL NAIL Filed Feb. 21.. 1967 LINVENTORS. Maw! J/IL/ME BY fi/aua J. J/M/ME United States Patent US. Cl. 128-132 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Artificial nail has a first wall portion formed with a concave undersurface, and a second wall portion formed with a convex upper surface, the first wall portion overlying and spaced from the second wall portion. Forward edges of the wall portions are joined together to form a pocket in which a human nail is insertable. An additional wall portion is contiguous with the first wall portion and extends substantially to the base of a human nail received in the pocket. The additional wall portion is secured by cement, glue or the like to the human nail substantially at the base thereof.

Our invention relates to artificial nails and more particularly to artificial finger nails for humans.

It is an object of our invention to provide artificial nail which will have therapeutic value for individuals sufiering from ingrown nails by keeping the human nail suitably spaced from the skin of the respective finger.

It is another object of our invention to provide artificial nail which will provide reinforcement and strength to the wearers own nail.

It is an additional object of our invention to provide artificial nail which will have a free end of smooth and pleasing curvature covering a broken or discolored human nail end, for example.

It is an additional object of our invention to provide artificial nail which is decorative and pleasing to the eye.

With the foregoing and other objects in view we provide, in accordance with our invention, artificial nail comprising a first wall portion having a concave undersurface and a second wall portion having a convex upper surface, the first wall portion overlying and spaced from the second wall portion. The wall portions respectively have matching forward edges joined to one another so as to form a pocket for receiving a human nail therein. The first wall portion is contiguous with an additional wall portion having a rearward edge extending substantially to the base of a human nail received in the pocket. Means are also provided for securing the additional wall portion to the human nail substantially at the base thereof.

In accordance with further features of my invention, the wall portions are in the form of curved sheets, the second sheet having a slightly smaller radius of curvature than the overlying first sheet. In one embodiment of our invention, the first wall portion and the contiguous additional wall portion together have a substantially elliptical shape and the second wall portion is in the form of part of an ellipse. Both in this embodiment of the invention as well as in another embodiment thereof, the first and second wall portions respectively form part of an ellipse, the elliptical edges thereof being joined to one another. In the other embodiment, moreover, the additional wall portion tapers substantially to a point at the base of the human nail.

Other features of our invention is that the securing means comprises a cementing substance located on the underside of the additional wall portion, and the wall portions are formed of material selected from the group consisting of precious metal, nonprecious metal, plastic ma- 3,487,831 Patented Jan. 6, 197K) terial, ceramic material and glass, the upper surface of the first wall portion being artificially colored if desired.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in artificial nail, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modification and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a human hand on the fingernails of which one embodiment of the artificial nail of our invention is worn;

FIG. 2 is a view of one finger showing in cross section the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the artificial nail embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 3 taken along the lines IVIV in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of human hand on the fingernails of which another embodiment of our invention is worn;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the artificial nail embodiment of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the artificial nail embodiment of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings and first to FIGS. 1 to 4 thereof, there is shown a hand I of a user of our invention, on the fingers 2 and thumb 3 of which one embodiment of the artificial fingernail 4 of my invention is worn.

As shown more clearly in the enlarged views of FIGS. 2 to 4, the artificial fingernail is made up of a substantially elliptical wall portion 5 having a concave surface with substantially the same curvature as the surface of a human nail, and a concave wall portion 6, forming only part of an ellipse and having a convex surface with slightly smaller radius of curvature than the concave surface of the wall portion 5, the ellipical edge 7 of the portion 6 being joined to the corresponding elliptical edge of the portion 5 so as to form a pocket for receiving the free end of a human nail 8 (FIG. 2) snugly in the space 9 between the portions 5 and 6, with the wall portion 5 overlying the human nail. Any suitable cement, glue or the like 10 is applied near the base of the human nail for securing the concave portion 5 overlying that area to the human nail.

In FIGS. 5 to 7, the embodiment shown is substantially similar to that of FIGS. 1 to 4, except that both the wall portions 11, 12 overlying and underlying the human nail are only parts of an ellipse. The overlying portion 11 is furthermore provided with a tapering portion 13 extending for a distance to the base of a human nail when the false nail 4' is mounted thereon. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, cement, glue or the like 114 is applied over an area of the human nail; in this case an area corresponding to at least part of the area of the overlying portion 11 so as to secure the portion 11 to the human nail.

The material of which the artificial nail is made is precious metal such as gold or silver, for example. However, it is also contemplated that the artificial nail be made of nonprecious metals such as stainless steel or of plastic material, glass ceramic or the like, in the form of curved sheets.

Any cement or glue that will cause adherence between the artificial nail of whatever material and the human nail on which it is worn can be used for that purpose.

The artificial nail of our invention may have either the color or precious metal or may have any other color deemed suitable either painted thereon or applied by baked enamel or by any other feasible means.

We claim:

1. Artificial nail comprising a first wall portion having a concave undersurface and a second wall portion having a convex upper surface, said first wall portion overlying and spaced from said second wall portion, said wall portions respectively having matching forward edges joined to one another so as to form a pocket for receiving a human nail therein, said first wall portion being contiguous with an additional wall portion having a rearward edge and of a given length for extending substantially to the base of a human nail received in said pocket, and means for securing said additional wall portion to the human nail substantially at the base thereof, said first and second Wall portions respectively forming part of an ellipse, the elliptical edges thereof being joined to one another, and said additional wall portion extending from opposite ends of said first wall portion and tapering continuously downwardly for said given length to a point at the base of the human nail.

2. Artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises a cementing substance located on the underside of said additional Wall portion.

3. Artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein said wall portions are formed of material selected from the group consisting of precious metal, nonprecious metal, plastic material, ceramic material and glass.

4. Artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of said first wall portion is artificially colored.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,135,382 4/1915 Kindred 13273 XR 2,013,290 9/1935 Rohrbach 132-73 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 275,973 9/ 1951 Switzerland.

LAWRENCE W. TRAPP, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

